After coming to power at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) no longer seems to be an â€œuntouchableâ€ in Kashmir.

Looking at â€˜44 plusâ€™ seats to get an absolute majority in the upcoming assembly elections in the state, the party seems to be making inroads in the Valley.

On Sunday, the J&K unit of Janata Dal announced its merger with the BJP.

According to party officials, the BJP, which has never won a seat in the Valley, has planned to contest all 87 seats in the state. â€œWe are contesting in all 87 constituencies with the spirit to win them. We are hopeful of winning 44 plus seats this time,â€ said state BJP leader Fayaz Ahmad Bhat.

While many prominent names are doing the rounds as possible entrants to the BJP, the trend has started with Hina Bhat, daughter of former National Conference (NC) leader Mohammad Shafi Bhat, joining the party. Bhat, a doctor, is likely to challenge NCâ€™s Shamima Firdous in Amira Kadal. Amira Kadal has been Mohammadâ€™s strong hold, who as a NC leader had won the seat in 1996. He joined the Congress after he was denied a ticket by the NC in 2002; however, retained the seat in 2002 as well.

On Saturday, BJP national general secretary JP Nadda and state general secretary Ashok Kumar Koul welcomed some of the new entrants to the party fold.

Besides many new faces, former NC and Congress workers also joined the party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiâ€™s persona and the promise of â€œAchhey dinâ€, according to Bhat, made her reject the offer of joining Congress for the Amira Kadal ticket last week. She is likely to contest for the BJP from the same seat. â€œI am hopeful that the BJP will give me the ticket from this constituency,â€ said Hina.

â€œI know the consequences of joining BJP, but the decision came after carefully weighing the Modi governmentâ€™s approach towards the state. People who are against me now, will support me for the decision in future,â€ said the 34-year-old doctor.

â€œWe know what the mainstream parties, which are headed by Muslims, have given to the state? It might be possible that a non-Muslim party rescue this state,â€ she added. Besides, the party is likely to consolidate its vote bank in the areas once dominated by Kashmiri Pandits. â€œIf Muslims in Srinagar donâ€™t vote Kashmiri Pandits in areas like Habba Kadal, Amira Kadal will matter,â€ said a party insider.

The National Conference (NC) and the Congress have announced that they will contest the forthcoming assembly elections separately, thereby ending the alliance that has been in power in Jammu and Kashmir since early 2009. This decision surprises no one as there is clearly no benefit to be had from continuing together. Both parties fought the Lok Sabha elections together but drew a blank, with the BJP and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) securing three seats apiece from the state.

The NC and the Congress units in the state have also been at loggerheads for years. This is in some measure due to the different constituencies they are accountable to. The Congress has a strong client base in Jammu, while the NCâ€™s stronghold is in parts of Kashmir. Politicians from both parties appeared to look out for their own interests. As a result, the ruling alliance, led by chief minister Omar Abdullah, rarely seemed to act in concert to tackle governance challenges in the state. The alliance held this long only due to the personal friendship between Mr Abdullah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Congress, which garnered nearly 23% of the vote in the Lok Sabha polls, will be fancying its chances of securing a post-poll arrangement with the PDP. The latter managed 20% and is expected to do particularly well in the Valley. The BJP will do well in Jammu but itâ€™s not yet clear which way the PDP will swing as it would weigh the merits of allying with a party in power at Delhi while keeping regional tensions between Jammu and Kashmir in mind.

The Congressâ€™ insistence that it initiated the split â€” a version that the NC contests â€” signals a loss of confidence in Mr Abdullah, whose party managed only 11% of the vote in the Lok Sabha polls. A liberal politician, he will strive to represent his legacy in the coming months. All chief ministers of J&K operate in a tough environment. Mr Abdullah himself had to tackle the effects of persistent unrest and violent reprisals during 2008-10. He had an unhelpful ally to contend with and was overruled by the ministry of defence on the partial lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. That said, his triumphs in governance are not readily apparent. Perceptions of disconnect with the people will dog him in the months ahead.

The NC has also announced that Omarâ€™s father, Farooq Abdullah, will not contest the assembly elections, perhaps indicating a slow fading away for the charismatic and often controversial politician. We are witnessing a watershed moment in Kashmirâ€™s political history.

If BJP comes to power in J&K, it will be win for Majority Indians & Kashmirs pandits.

It will be huge blow to separatists, pakistanis & other Anti India groups. Big morale booster for our Service men.

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I believe lot of people of J&K are tired of all the suffering they have gone through by the anti national elements. They also want development which again points the needle towards BJP. All the active service men can also contribute to the same.